Apple Launches Affiliate Program for Podcasts Subscriptions

Apple has announced a new affiliate program for its upcoming Apple Podcasts Subscriptions platform that will allow users to earn a commission when a podcast link they share leads to a new subscriber.

Apple Podcasts iOS 14 5
Launching this month, Apple Podcast Subscriptions will allow users to subscribe to podcasts to receive perks, such as an ad-free listening experience, early access to episodes, and exclusive episodes.

The affiliate program pays a 50% commission for clicked links that lead to a subscription. For example, for a link to a podcast subscription that costs $10, the user would earn $5 in equivalent commissions. Apple says the payment scales globally based on the local market price.

Users who apply to the program are provided with a token that identifies their affiliate account when they publish a link to a paid-for podcast. This token aggregates all revenue generated through the user's affiliate links and pays out the commission earned with 30 days.

Apple's wording suggests that the affiliate program is geared towards podcast creators, however anyone can sign up to it and generate revenue using affiliate links.

Apple's existing affiliate programs cover content and subscriptions tied to the iTunes Store, Apple Music, Apple TV+, and Apple Books. To apply to the podcast affiliate initiative, visit the Apple Services Performance Partner Program.

Popular Stories

maxresdefault

Apple Event Announced for September 9: 'It's Glowtime'

Monday August 26, 2024 9:01 am PDT by
Apple today announced plans to hold its annual iPhone-centric event on Monday, September 9 at the Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California. The event is set to start at 10:00 a.m., and select members of the media have been invited to attend. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. This year's event will see Apple unveil the iPhone 16 lineup, new Apple Watch models, and...
iPhone 16 Pro Sizes Feature

iPhone 16 Likely to Launch on September 20 With These New Features

Monday August 26, 2024 2:56 am PDT by
Apple is likely to launch its new iPhone 16 lineup in stores on Friday, September 20, and the company has Apple already sent out media invites for its iPhone announcement on Monday, with the tagline "It's Glowtime." Apple plans to introduce the iPhone 16 models, along with the next-generation Apple Watch models, as well as new AirPods. iPhone 16: What to Expect The iPhone 16 series is...
M4 Mac mini Black Ortho Cooler

Apple Testing Four New M4 Macs Ahead of Fall Launch

Friday August 23, 2024 12:02 pm PDT by
Apple has ramped up testing of four new Mac models equipped with an M4 chip, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Apple is planning to refresh the MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and iMac with M4 chips this year, and we could see the new models sometime in October. The four machines have base-level M4 chips, according to developer logs. Three of the Macs have a 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU. The...
iPhone 16 Camera Lozenge 2

Apple Expected to Debut iPhone 16, Apple Watch 10, and AirPods 4 on September 10

Friday August 23, 2024 11:28 am PDT by
Apple plans to hold an event to introduce the iPhone 16 models, the next-generation Apple Watch models, and new AirPods on Tuesday, September 10, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. After the September 10 unveiling, the devices will launch on Friday, September 20. With that timeline, we can expect new software like iOS 18 and macOS Sequoia to come out a few days ahead of the September 20...
meta quest 3

Meta Cancels High-End Mixed Reality Headset After Apple Vision Pro Struggles

Friday August 23, 2024 10:49 am PDT by
Meta has canceled work on a high-end mixed reality headset that it was developing to compete with the Apple Vision Pro, reports The Information. Meta this week told employees to quit working on the device following a product review meeting that involved Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The now-canceled device was slated for launch in 2027, and it was meant to be equipped with high-resolution micro...

Top Rated Comments

incoherent_1 Avatar
43 months ago
I can’t of think of anything more antithetical to podcasts than locking away certain content behind a paywall. Whether it’s Apple or Spotify or someone else, I hope this effort fails.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
pianostar9 Avatar
43 months ago
50% commission? Complaints and/or lawsuits in 3... 2... 1...
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bwayne Avatar
43 months ago
Maybe it’s just me but I would never pay for a subscription to a podcast, let alone recommend it to a friend. There must be some terribly lonely people out there desperate for human interaction.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Macintosh IIvx Avatar
43 months ago

True. I was thinking in terms of Epic v. Apple, which seems to me at least like Epic complaining about Apple taking a 30% cut, where here Apple is taking a 50% cut...
I suppose. But previously this wasn't even something offered. I see it like, if someone came to you today and said, "Hey you can now make money by charging for this thing you couldn't previously charge for but you have to give me half." Would you say, "No, I'll keep giving it away free." or would you take any added money.

It's a funny thing about humans. We're far from rational. There's a great experiment where people are given $100 and have to choose how much of it they'll give to the other person. That other person can choose to accept the offer, or they can decline it and both people get nothing. Now, from an economic point of view, being offered anything is better than nothing at all, so they should accept the offer, no matter how small it is. $1 is still better than $0. But what numerous university studies found was that unless the offer was $50 and more, they were likely to reject the offer. People are more willing to hurt themselves if they believe the offer isn't "fair" than to take the financially beneficial offer. Humans are not at all rational and we don't act the way economics says we should/will.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CarpalMac Avatar
43 months ago
50% of nothing is still nothing. I (for one) have been cancelling / consolidating subscriptions, I am definitely not adding them.

Death to a bank balance, by a thousand debits.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Macintosh IIvx Avatar
43 months ago

50% commission? Complaints and/or lawsuits in 3... 2... 1...
From who? This is Apple giving part of what they'd normally make and giving it to those that help bring in more business. Amazon does the same. They take part of their normal cut and give up to 4% to those that refer buyers to their site. COUNTLESS other sites do it.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)